Saturday, July 22, 1944

Saturday, July 22, 1944

The days that marked the Battle of Normandy

Operation Goodwood is now completely over and this offensive is considered by the Americans to be a failure. Reports of loss appear to be far too high (3,600 soldiers and 469 tanks out of fight). The British advanced only 11 kilometers and the front line on 22 July was as follows: the road linking Fleury-sur-Orne to Saint-André-sur-Orne south of Caen was secured and the villages of Bourguébus and Frénouville are liberated. But Commonwealth troops are stopped, while the English Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, flies over the front to the southwest of Caen.

In preparation for operation Cobra to take place in the Cotentin, the 358th regiment of the 90th US Infantry Division attacks despite the bad weather and the lack of air support towards the village of Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves, 5 kilometers north of Périers. The American losses are very high even though the two battalions employed fail to enter the village. Weakened, they retreated and had to defend their positions in the evening, attacked by infantry and German tanks. The 358th American regiment loses during the offensive nearly 700 soldiers, of whom 100 were killed and missing, 400 wounded and 200 prisoners. The locality of Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves is yet not reached.